Premiums, expenses and profit

Premium volume

Property and casualty insurance showed excellent growth across the Group, generating 51.5% of premium volume in 2011. Although the increase in life insurance premiums from the CEE region was able to compensate for the losses in Austria, the weighting of the life insurance sector declined relative to the significantly faster growing non-life sector, so that the share of premiums contributed by life insurance declined to 44.4% of total premium volume for the financial year. 4.1% of premiums came from health insurance.

Vienna Insurance Group companies generated EUR 4,579.30 million in Group premiums in the property/casualty area in 2011 (2010: EUR 4,350.04 million), an increase of 5.3%. The positive performance in this business line was mainly driven by high growth rates in Poland, Austria and the Ukraine. VIG companies in Poland, for example, generated EUR 611.55 million in premiums, an increase of 9.3%. The Austrian companies generated EUR 1,763.94 million, 12.6% more than the previous year. In addition to good growth in the Austrian market, this increase was also due to strong growth in business volume at the branch offices in Italy. 61.5% of property and casualty premiums were generated outside Austria.

While life insurance recorded particularly good premium volume from single-premium business in the preceding year, premium volume in Austria fell considerably in this area in 2011. The Group companies outside Austria, on the other hand, raised EUR 2,003.45 million in premium income, an increase of 14.0%. This further increased the share of Group life insurance premiums generated outside Austria to 50.8% in 2011. The positive growth in life insurance in many parts of the CEE region meant that premiums written in this segment also rose year-on-year by 1.0% to EUR 3,944.22 million.

The Vienna Insurance Group companies in the Czech Republic wrote EUR 849.48 million in premiums in the life insurance segment, 12.9% more than in 2010. The Slovakian companies contributed EUR 359.76 million (+5.5%) in this segment, the Polish companies EUR 342.52 million (+81.9%) and the Romanian companies EUR 100.97 million (+8.4%). The Remaining Markets segment wrote EUR 350.72 million in premiums.

Vienna Insurance Group wrote EUR 360.15 million in premiums in the health insurance segment, an increase of 6.5%. This disproportionately strong growth was largely due to consolidation of the Group companies in Georgia. Besides Georgia, only Austria generates enough health insurance premiums to make a significant contribution to total premiums.

Expenses for claims and insurance benefits

Vienna Insurance Group recorded EUR 2,531.27 million in expenses for claims and insurance benefits in the property/casualty area in 2011, representing a slight increase of 3.8%. Expenses in the life insurance segment were EUR 3,695.79 million, 3.3% lower than the previous year due to a decrease in business in Austria. In the health insurance segment, expenses for claims and insurance benefits were EUR 308.91 million (2010: EUR 282.60 million).

Acquisition and administrative expenses

Vienna Insurance Group recorded acquisition and administrative expenses of EUR 1,080.68 million in the property/casualty business in 2011 (2010: EUR 1,046.79 million). These expenses fell by 6.6% for life insurance to EUR 628.47 million. In health insurance, acquisition and administrative expenses were EUR 43.51 million, 8.2% higher than the figure of EUR 40.20 million in the previous year.

Profit before taxes

Profit before taxes reached EUR 559.01 million in 2011, corresponding to an increase of 10.1% over the previous year. The significant increase that was achieved in spite of difficult conditions confirms the strategy followed by the Group in its markets.

In the life insurance area, the Group generated a profit before taxes of EUR 239.81 million, representing a slight decrease of 3.5% compared to 2010. As a result, life insurance accounts for 42.9% of total profits.